My legs were sore. I’d been on the bike all day as I stepped off and stretched beside a open field filled with Texas longhorns. The sun was shining high in the sky, and despite it being November, it was pretty warm out. Of course, my heart hadn’t stopped pounding since the morning, so that was probably a contributing factor as well.

Preston and the others had been there, wanting to talk about what happened, but I just wasn’t ready. Everything was too fresh and I needed time. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever want to talk about it again.

It wasn’t just the obvious pain of betrayal. It was the fact that I had let myself walk right into it. After Adam, I’d promised myself I’d be more cautious. Live for myself. Get mine. Don’t let anyone in again. But I’d broken that promise, and for what?

So a sweet smelling omega could snatch my heart away from me and run it over with a fucking monster truck? I’d rather have all my teeth kicked out by a horse, or be gored by one of those steer than feel what I was feeling, thanks to Scotty.

How could he have done that to me?

It looked so easy how he’d just walked away like that. Did he feel bad at all? Even a little bit? Because if he did, he sure hadn’t showed it. Had he even felt what I felt? Or was it just some sort of scam.

I was doubting everything. Were fated mates really even a thing? Or was I just turning a sweet scent into something it wasn’t? Because if we were meant to be together, really meant to be together, there was no way in hell he would have been able to walk away like that. I know for damn sure I couldn’t.

I slammed a fist against the fence post beside me, trying to redirect my anger somehow. Of all the people to fall in love with—a fucking Vanderton!

What had happened between Jasper and Preston was still fresh in everyone’s mind. He’d almost lost his mate, Kenneth, and we’d almost lost the farm. It was only by the skin of our teeth that we’d managed to keep it. Chuck and Jamie had come in on it with him, putting up the necessary cash to buy the place from Frank, who’d been intent on selling it to Charles Vanderton, Jasper’s Father. And Brad’s too—and Scotty’s.

So not only had I fallen in love, which I’d told myself I would never do, but I’d fallen in love with the enemy.

“What am I even doing?” I thought, feeling lost as I gazed out across the flat Texas landscape. “What the fuck am I doing here!?”

I’d left California to start fresh, leave the heartbreak of Adam behind me and move on. I thought I’d forge a new life for myself and that everything would be better. And it was, for a time. Now, I realized that I was just the same foolish idiot that had given his heart away back in California. The only difference between the me then and the me now, was that I was in Texas. That was it.

“Gah!” I roared, scaring a few of the steer closest to me. They shuffled around and scattered.

I wondered what Scotty was doing. Was he upset at all, or just going about his life as usual? What even was usual for him—a Vanderton? Maybe he was out with his dad, looking for more real estate to gobble up. Or at some meeting to become part of his dad’s company.

Or maybe—just maybe he was as upset as me?

“Huh. Doubt it!” I scoffed, kicking the fence post and turning back to my bike. There was no way. If he had the ability to just walk away from me like that and not turn around, he wasn’t crying his eyes out. No chance.

But I had to see for myself.

My betrayal and abandonment was morphing, shifting into anger and resentment. I climbed back on my bike, kicked it into gear and peeled out. I hit the pavement and rocketed forward, heading back towards Austin.

I had to see for myself. If he wasn’t going to be with me, fine. But I had to face him one last time in order to put all this behind me. I needed to know how he’d done it, and more importantly, why.

I drove and I drove, way too fast, but I didn’t care. I was reckless. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. My world was crashing down around me. I passed every car or truck I saw on the road and it wasn’t long before I was swinging my bike off the exit and into Austin.

My heart was racing as I retraced my steps back towards his building, and once I saw it come into view, I was ready to explode. I pulled up and parked, but didn’t get off immediately. I sat there, staring up at his window, waiting to see if anything happened. I’m not sure what I was waiting to see, but I needed a moment before I went up.

Maybe I thought I’d see him in the window, crying, wishing he hadn’t made the decision he’d made. Or maybe I thought I’d see something that made me understand what had happened. Maybe his brother had forced him somehow. Maybe he’d he shouting and screaming at him, and I would be able to rationalize Scotty leaving me. But none of that happened. All I saw was his window, and I knew I had to see him one last time if I was ever going to move on.

With a deep breath, I got off my bike and strode quickly towards his building. I had no idea what I was going to say to him when I saw him, and my mind was spinning like a beach ball in the midst of a tornado.

I’ll know when I see him, I thought as I leapt the fence into the parking lot of his building.

But then I saw them.

Five men standing at the door. They weren’t residents. They weren’t betas or omegas. And they weren’t there to chat. They were there to keep me out.

I stopped in my tracks as they stared me down. Brad wasn’t among them. More than likely they worked for his father. Just another group of Vanderton goons. Private security most likely.

My bear stirred within me. My fangs extended and I ran my tongue over their sharp tips as I weighed my options.

I was outnumbered, but that was no reason to be a pussy. But as I looked at them, I realized just how idiotic it would be to try and take them on. Even if I won, Scotty wasn’t coming back to me.

What am I doing here? I thought, feeling my heart sink even lower than it was before. I’d been riding an adrenaline high on my way to Scotty’s building, and now I was crashing.

The men just stared at me, waiting for me to make a move. They were a bunch of cocky shitheads—I could see that much. And nothing would have made me happier than to wipe those shit-eating grins off their faces.

But that was pointless.

Everything was pointless.

What was I living for anymore?

I’d tried love twice and been burned both times.

“Fuck you,” I said with a nod to the group at the door. One of them scoffed as I turned away. I leapt the fence and started walking back to my bike, feeling like the world’s biggest sucker.